Questions about the SIA's IT systems
Published 12 July 2023
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1. Request
Please answer the following questions:
- How many employees do you have?
- For enterprise resource planning (ERP):
- Which ERP or finance system do you currently use?
- What is the value and expiry date of your current contract/licence? What are the extension options?
- Do you have any plans to review (upgrade/change) this system?
- For customer relationship management (CRM):
- Which CRM system do you currently use?
- What is the value and expiry date of your current contract/licence? What are the extension options?
- Do you have any plans to review (upgrade/change) this system?
- For supply chain management (SCM):
- Which SCM system do you currently use?
- What is the value and expiry date of your current contract/licence? What are the extension options?
- Do you have any plans to review (upgrade/change) this system?
- For enterprise performance management (EPM):
- Which EPM, scenario planning or strategic modelling system do you currently use?
- What is the value and expiry date of your current contract/licence? What are the extension options?
- Do you have any plans to review (upgrade/change) this system?
- For human resources and payroll:
- Which human capital management (HCM) or HR and payroll system(s) do you currently use?
- What is the value and expiry date of your current contract/licence? What are the extension options?
- Do you have any plans to review (upgrade/change) this system?
- For business intelligence:
- Which analytics or business intelligence systems do you currently use?
- What is the value and expiry date of your current contract/licence? What are the extension options?
- Do you have any plans to review (upgrade/change) this system?
- Do you have any plans to migrate to a fully integrated, fully cloud-based back-office system in the next two years?
2. Response
How many employees do you have?
The SIA currently employs 348 people.
Which ERP or finance system do you currently use?
SunSystems.
What is the value and expiry date of your current contract/licence? What are the extension options?
This contract is for a value of £12.9K and expires June 2026, with an optional 2 year extension.
Do you have any plans to review (upgrade/change) this system?
Yes to upgrade our current system version.
Which CRM system do you currently use?
Microsoft Dynamics.
What is the value and expiry date of your current contract/licence? What are the extension options?
This system is currently under re-tender, therefore this information is exempt from disclosure under Section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Section 43(2) of the FOIA relates to information that would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it). In deciding whether the release of this information would or would likely, prejudice someone’s commercial interests, I have applied the prejudice test:
-
Applicable interests - disclosing this information would likely have a negative consequence on the competition of the open procurement tender process between bidders and affect or prejudice potentially bidders from fairly competing.
-
Nature of prejudice - the SIA has envisaged that the prejudice would be real as the disclosure of this information would lead to disadvantaging the commercial interests of the SIA. Certain bidders would be given a commercial advantage over other bidders which does not create an open, fair and transparent process in line with Principles of Procurement.
As a result of these two factors, the SIA is of the view that there is a likelihood of the occurrence of the prejudice happening should the commercially sensitive information be disclosed. It would affect the SIA’s commercial interests in the event of open tender.
The SIA has also considered the public interest test when applying this exemption. We acknowledge there is a public interest in allowing the public access to this information in respect of this subject matter because it allows for the SIA as a public body to remain open and transparent, contributing to public confidence in us as a regulator. However, the SIA considers that withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosure in this case. This is because the SIA would not be able to maintain a competitive negotiating position whist the tendering process is live for a particular contract, and therefore the disclosure of the information would likely prejudice the commercial interests of the SIA for the reasons stated in the above test.
The SIA has also followed the guidance in The Public Contracts Regulations 2015, namely s.55(3)(c), which permits the SIA (a contracting authority) to withhold certain information where the release of such information might prejudice fair competition between economic operators. You can view this here: PCR Regulation 55(3).
Do you have any plans to review (upgrade/change) this system?
This system is currently under re-tender and the exemption under s.43(2) FOIA provided as above applies.
Which SCM system do you currently use?
We do not use an SCM system.
What is the value and expiry date of your current contract/licence? What are the extension options?
Not applicable.
Do you have any plans to review (upgrade/change) this system?
Not applicable.
Which EPM, scenario planning or strategic modelling system do you currently use?
We do not use an EPM system.
What is the value and expiry date of your current contract/licence? What are the extension options?
Not applicable.
Do you have any plans to review (upgrade/change) this system?
Not applicable.
Which human capital management (HCM) or HR and payroll system(s) do you currently use?
CIPHR / ePay / Liberata
What is the value and expiry date of your current contract/licence? What are the extension options?
The CIPHR contract is for a value of £186.8K and expires May 2025, with an optional 1 year + 1 year extension. The Liberta contract is for a value of £52.7K and expires March 2025.
Do you have any plans to review (upgrade/change) this system?
Not at this time.
Which analytics or business intelligence systems do you currently use?
Microsoft PowerBI.
What is the value and expiry date of your current contract/licence? What are the extension options?
This is part of our larger software licensing contract. This contract is for a value of £486.8K and expires March 2025 with an optional 1 year extension. All information with regards to this which we can release with regards to this software licensing contract is included in the Contracts Finder award notice here: Awarded - SIA 802 - IT Software and Licencing Contract 2023-2025 - Contracts Finder
Do you have any plans to review (upgrade/change) this system?
Not at this time.
Do you have any plans to migrate to a fully integrated, fully cloud-based back-office system in the next two years?
Not at this time.
[Reference: FOI 0423]